Turbine pump



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 John R. Bef fs Dec. 31, 1940. J. R. BETTS TURBINE PUMP Filed Sept. 27, 1937 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 \UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TURBINE PUMP John R. Betts, Kearney, Nebr.

Application September 27, 1937, Serial No. 165,817

6 Claims. (01. 103-90) My invention relates to turbine pumps, one of its objects being the provision of a rotary pump having a peripheral bearing instead of a bearing at the axis of the cylindrical wall.

Another of my objects is the provision of a rotary pump having a peripheral impeller in combination with a peripheral bearing.-

Another object is the provision of a rotary pump having a peripheral bearing together with impellers at both the bearing and on the inner side thereof.

Another object which I have.in view is the provision of a rotary pump with a peripheral bearing designed for the forcible ejection of sand and other abrasives therefrom.

It is also my object to provide a rotary pump designed for water lubrication exclusively to void tainting of the water.

Another object which I have in view is the provision of a rotary pump with means for deflecting the spinning current of water into an upward direction.

Another of my objects is the provision of a rotary pump having an impeller with a peripheral bearing in the well casing and having an antispinner at the axis of the impeller for defleeting in an upward direction the spinning stream of water.

Another object is the provision of a rotary pump having a casing and an impeller and an antispinner so designed and arranged that the impeller and the antispinner may be withdrawn without-disturbing the well casing.

Another object is the provision of a rotary therein:

Figure 2 is a view in much enlarged scale showing in section the meeting edges of two lengths of the well casing and showing also the bearings and impeller.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation showing the coupling joining two lengths of shafting and showing also the shroud ring and the tire in their relation to an impeller, a portion at the left in the figure being broken away. I

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of th arrows.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a tire.

Figure 6 is a view in perspective showing an independent bearing member for coupling two '5 lengths of the shafting together without using impeller blades at the shaft Joint.

Figure 7 is a perspective view in section showing the use of an antispinner with my impeller.

Figure 8 is a view in longitudinal section 10 through the casingand showing the relation of the antispinner to the impeller and casing.

Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a transverse sectional view of a 15 fragment of the antispinner and the casing and showing particularly the position of the parts at one point in their assemblage.-

Figure 11 is a verticalsectional view of the lower end portion of the casing. p 20 The well is shown at H) in Figure 1, the well being provided with a suitable lining or with; no lining at all depending on the nature of the soil in which the well is sunk. 'The numeral I0 therefore designates merely the peripheral wall of the 25 well. Thewell casing consists of a plurality of lengths Ii which are joined together by couplings I2, these couplings being in the nature of screw threaded sleeves as best shown in Figure 2. The lengths H are uniform in all-respects, 30 my preference being for lengths, of pipe which are from eight to ten feet long. The lengths II when joined together by the couplings l2 constitute thewell casing through which the water is drawn. Centrally positioned inside the well cas 3 ing is a shaft I3 for driving the impellers, the shaft I3 being in lengths which are equal to the lengths ll. Above the surface of the soil is a motor M of any suitable typeor form. 1

As shown in Figure 2 the edges of the casing 4i lengths l I abut against each otherandtheir-end portions are joined together by meansof a coupling l2, both the coupling and the end portions of the lengths It being screw-threaded. The same thing is true, of the shaft l3, the end por- 45 tions of the shaft, lengths being secured together by the hubs I5 .-.-Additionalsecuring means' is provided with the nuts 18 above and below the hub IS with the: spring washers l1 interposed between the tsls and the ends of the hub I5.

Inside each lengthll and, at the lower extremity thereof,- is :a bearing .member .l8 in' the form of aliner.- 'These liners are preferably made fromsuch a non-rusting material as stainless steel or manganese bronze which is shrunk 55 The upper and lower edges of the bearing members l8 are bevelled and rounded as shown in Figure 2 for their Venturl eflect during the operation of the pump. Secured to the hub I5 is a shroud ring [8 having thereon a tire 20 which is preferably made irom an organic nonmetallic material such as hard rubber, lignum vitae, impregnated maple or anyother suitable material for which water is a lubricant. The

shroud ring I9 is provided with flanges at its top and. bottomior firmly holding the tire II, as

best shown in Figure 4. The tire I! is provided with spirally arranged grooves 2| for both iunctioning as impellers and for carrying the water lubricant to all parts or the bearings to thus avoid the accumulation of sand and the unnecessary cutting out of the parts of the bearings. The water passing through these grooves 2| terms a verythin film of water-over the entire contacting surface 01 the bearings to provide adequate lubrication. I

I Connecting the hub I5 and the shroud ring l9 are the impeller blades 22 which are formed integral with both' the hub l5 and theshroud ring I9. It is the rotation of these impeller blades about the axis of the shaft II which carries the water upwardly. Thepitch of these impeller blades depends to some extent onthe local conditions and especially as relates to the crate of flow which is possible to get from the particular well. The grooves 2|, however, should have substantially the same pitch as that of the impeller blades 22.-

The pump may be formed by the use of an impeller and shroud at every coupling l2. By means of this construction the water is lifted from the bottom end of one length of casing H to the bottom end of the next length where it is picked up by the next above impeller and carried upwardly. In some cases, however, it may be desirable to provide a coupling for two shaft lengths and to associate that particular coupling with a bearing but not with an impeller. In such cases I employ the device shown in Figure 6 in which the hub is shown at 23, this being connected through spokes 24 to the shroud ring 25. The shroud ring 15 is identical in form with that 01' the shroud ring is so thatit receives the same tires 20 as does the shroud ring I9.

Depending on the speed of rotation of the impeller and the pitch of the impeller blades, the device will sometimes set up a spinning motion in the column of water so that much of the energy is wasted in imparting a circular movement to the'water instead of movement in an upward direction. Whenthis condition is encountered it is necessary to provide means for straightening out the column of water. I therefore provide an antispinner which may be employed whenever the conditions warrant or necessitate its use.

As shown in Figures 7 to inclusive, the antispinner includes a sleeve 26 which loosely surrounds the shaft l3. Integralwiththe sleeve 26 is a piurality'of blades 21 having their bottom edges curved at 21 into the whirling stream of water from the impeller and having their outer edges curved in the opposite direction. The outer edges of the blades 2'! terminate short of the casing wall H but the supplemental blades 28 are secured to the blades 21 with their outer edges in intimate contact with the inner wall of the casing. The supplemental blades 28 should be quite flexible and resilient but at the same time they should be sul'ilciently stifl to meet the demands on them. They are curved as best shown in Figure 10 in the direction away from the directionof movement of the whirling stream of water. The casing II is provided with ribs 25 which serve as abutments for the supplemental blades II. This permits freedom of rearward rotation of the antispinner but only limited forward rotation as the antispinner will be held stationary when the outer edges of the supplemental blades II abut against the ribs 2! as shown in the dotted line position in Figurelo. The reverse rotation of the antispinner will cause the supplemental blades II to ride over the 'ribs ll whlchis adapted to rest on the hub it. The ov metallic 1 collarv ll ispreierably formed or tw discs on ovnosite iad s voifa rubber .disc.

Thesupplemjentalblades 1:: must be designed" for convenience in assemblage and disassem blaze of the pump. 'I'iieymust be so formed as to not only contact the inner surface of the casing wall but theyl must be adapted to pass the bearing members it during assemblage or disassemblage. The shaft II is in sections or lengths and the impellers are secured to the shaft at the Joints between theshaft lengths. The pump is assembled by adding lengths of shai'ting with impellers and by gradually lowering the impellers with the shafting in the casing while adding lengths. When antispinners are employed the antispinners should be added above the impellers in the manner shown in Figure 8. This naturally demands that the antispinners be so designed that they will readily pass through the bearing members "which have a smaller diameter than the eilective diameter of the antispinners. As best shown in Figure 8, the supplemental blades have their upper edges cut away at 3| and their lower edges at 32, the cuts making a long slope with reference to the blades. Since these blades are flexible andresilient, downward pressure during assemblage of the pump as in the Figure 8 position will cause the blades 28 to buckle as shown in full lines in Figure 10 and into the position where further downward movement is within the restricted diameter of the bearing members ll until the lower end of the bearing member is reached when the blades 28 will snap back into their normal position against the inner peripheral wall of the casing. The same thing is true when the pump must be disassembled by drawing the impellers and shafting upwardly through the well casing ll. Atsuch times the sloping edges II will bear against the lower edges of the bearing members l8 so that they will buckle to permit the antispinner to pass through the bearing members ll.

As shown in Figures 1 and 11, the lower end of the well casing is in irustoconicai form with the lower opening of larger diameter than that of the well casing. During assemblage or disassemblage it is possible that one of the joints in the shafting ll may be released to drop a portion of the shafting with the impellers down to the bottom of the well. Since the mouth of the casing is usually above the bottom of the well, such an accident may cause an impeller to fall to a position below the well casing and out of reach the tires 20.

be maintained in precise alignment.

sand is ejected andall parts of the bearings are of any tools which may be applied. For this reason it; is desirable that the lower end of the well casing be provided with the bar 33 or with any other desired stop member which will not ,it'dimcult-to preserve the vertical alignment of the bearings. JBecause of the very large bearing surfaces'the s'hafting will tend to maintain its 1 vertical :positionat the center line of the well casing. Intheimanufacture of my pump the material for'the bearing members I8 is forced into i the lower ends of thecasing lengths II and they-- are then machined for accurate but close fit with These sections are then carried-'- to the job wherethey may readily be assembled in the field withoutthe use of special tools. i

The bearing members I8 and 20 are made from, different materials but which are both readily-- :lubricated by the film of water. No lubrican other than waterisemployed and this avoid's'fth tainting of water when the pump is designedto supply water for householduseg Ilia-materials used in the bearing;membersareinoii only thor- I a tire surrounding said impeller andsecured thereto, said tire being of an organic non-metallic oughly lubricated by 'the waterfbut they; are of such a nature that very'f'little' wear can. occur, between them, Should; lthe bearings become fa sleeve of non-corrosive metal secured inside of said casing surrounding said tire, said sleeve havloose, it'is only necessary 'to rai's'eorlower the. entire shaftingv with the impellers in order to bring the bearing members-20 into contact with the bearing members l8 at a slightly higher or lower position. r

Another great advantage of my pump resides in the construction which permits the removal of the shafting and impellers'from the well casing without incurring the heavy labor costs of removing the entire casing from the well. This shafting may be drawn upwardly and it may be disassembled if its length is too great. Any desired repairs or replacements may be made and the shafting withthe impellers may then be again inserted into the well casing without otherwise disturbing the well casing. whether the-pump is employed with or without the antispinner. As before described, the antispinner is so constructed that it operates against the inner peripheral walls of the lengths ll of the casing but at the same time it may pass the bearing members I8 in either their upward or downward movement in the well casing.

Prior centrifugal pumps have shafts which rotate in bearings, the bearings being located at the top and bottom and at intermediate points on the shaft. Of necessity these bearings must The impellers as a rule are given sufficient clearance with the casing wall to compensate for irregularties in alignment of the bearings. Instead of the prior arrangements, I dispense with special bearings and so design the impellers with relation to the well casing that no bearings other than the impellers are needed, the dependence being solely on the impellers as bearings. The impellers ride snugly against the sleeves and not only maintainall parts of the shaft in vertical alignment but they prevent the irregular stray currents of water. at the peripheries of the impellers. Except for the grooves 2| the bearings for the impellers are sealed and these grooves together with the seal insure that the passage of water at the periphery is under control. At the same time, the

This is true kept wet so that the impellers ride smoothly on their films of water. The abrasive action on the bearings is negliigible for this reason but when a part becomes worn it is only necessary to raise or lower the shaft with the impellers only a slight distance in order to bring new bearing surfaces into contact.

Having thus described my invention in such full, clear, and exact terms that its construction and operation will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains,

, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. A rotary water pump including a well casing, a rotatable shaft centrally suspended in said well easing, an impeller member secured to said shaft, a flanged rim surrounding said impeller member,

a tire surrounding said rim and secured thereto ing, and means for driving said shaft at a high speed. 1,2. A rotary water pump including a well casing, a rotatable shaft centrally suspended in said well using, an impeller member secured to said shaft,

material for which water is an efiective lubricant,

ing an internal diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of said tire, and means for driving said shaft at a high speed.

3. A rotary water pump including a well casing, a rotatable shaft centrally suspended in said well casing, an impeller member secured to said shaft, a rim surrounding said impeller member, a tire surrounding said rim and secured thereto, said tire being of an organic, non-metallic material for which water is an effective lubricant, and being ofa size to have a peripheral bearing with the interior of said casing, said tire further being provided with diagonally extending grooves in the exterior surface thereof to force water between said tire and said casing upon rotation of said impeller, and means for driving said shaft at a high speed.

4. A rotary pump including a well casing, a

extending diagonally in the same direction and i having substantially the same pitch as said blades, said grooves being of sufllcient depth to force the liquid beingpumped into the space between-said tire and said bearing member without weakening said tire.

5 A rotary pump including a well casing comprising a plurality of casing sections, a rotatable shaft centrally suspended in said casing, said shaft being formed of a plurality of sections equal in number and in length to said casing sections, a

plurality of impeller members secured to saidshaft adjacent the ends of said shaft sections and each comprising a surrounding rim, a tire surrounding each impeller rim and secured thereto, said tires being of an organic nonmetallic material capable of being effectively lubricated by the liquid being pumped, sleeve bearing members secured internally of said casing adjacent the ends of said casing sections, one of said sleeve bearing members being located adjacent each of said impeller members in bearing engagement with the tire secured thereto, each of said tires being provided with diagonally extending grooves in the exterior surface thereof to force water between said tire and its associated sleeve bearing member, and a plurality of means for reducing the spinning motion of the water above said impellers, each of said means comprising a sleeve loosely surrounding said shaft and a plurality of radial blades secured to said sleeve, said blades having flexible extensions to facilitate the passage of the blades over said sleeve bearing members, said flexible extensions non-radially engaging the interior of the casing and said casing being provided with projections engaging said flexible extensions to prevent rotation in any but one-direction.

6. A rotary water pump including a well casing, a rotatable shaft centrally suspended in said well casingan impeller member secured to said shaft,

a rim surrounding said impeller member, a tire JOHN R. BETTS. 

